Search Results for 'Declan Kilkelly'

In many ways it is the classic cup final between the historic big two in Mayo soccer this Sunday when Castlebar Celtic and Westport United meet in Milebush. For a team that dominated at home and in the province last year, this year has been successful on the field for the Covies. A so-so start to the league saw them chasing from early on, but they found their form as the season went on and had a major say in the destination of the title in the closing stages, beating eventual champions Ballina Town on the penultimate day ensuring the destination of the Super League crown went down to the last day of the season. They then held second placed Ballyheane to a 2-2 draw at the end of October killing off their hopes of sneaking the title on the last day of the league. They eventually finished six points behind Ballina in the league, and know if they had been able to turn any of the four draws they were held to in the league season the day would have been right in the mix to retain the title.

The action in the divisions of the Mayo league take a break this weekend as the action in the cup and shield competitions takes over at the quarter-final stage. In the Connacht Gold Cup, there are four top division sides left in the draw with two from the Premier A and one from each of the Premier B and League One. Westport United who are second in the Super League and were held to a 1-1 draw away to Iorras Aontaithe last weekend will be at home to League One side Ballyhaunis Town who are themselves second in their division. United are the defending cup champions having routed Castlebar Celtic B 6-0 in the final last year in Milebush and will be hot favourites to book a semi-final spot on Saturday evening. The only unbeaten team in the league across all five divisions Ballyheane will be taking on Premier B opposition ins the shape of Ballyglass. The central Mayo side are currently riding on a high after picking up the Tuohy Cup last Sunday in Milebush thanks to a 4-0 win over Bangor Hibs and are also currently top of the extremely tight Premier B division, where they are level on points with Swinford and Westport United B at the top of the table. Ballyheane come into the game on the back of a 3-0 derby win against Castlebar Celtic last weekend and will be full of confidence themselves. Claremorris who find themselves rock bottom of the Super League will make the trip Castlebar to take on Fahy Rovers for a place in the final four. Claremorris have only one win under their belt in the league this season and last weekend were hammered 6-1 by league leaders Ballina Town at home. Fahy are two points clear at the top of Premier A and this game has all the hallmarks of a divisional upset, unless Claremorris can dig out a win to breathe some life back into a season that looks like tumbling towards relegation. The final quarter final pits a Castlebar Celtic side, who are in turmoil and now managerless after Declan Kilkelly resigned following Celtic’s 3-0 defeat at home to Ballyheane last weekend, against Charlestown Athletic. The east Mayo men who are currently sitting in third place in the Premier A will be hoping to use home advantage to claim the scalp of the Hoops.

Ballyheane will make their return to action in the Elverys Super League on Sunday and will face into a 100 mile plus round trip to Carenash to take on a Iorras Aontaithe side who were well turned over on the opening day by Manulla in Carramore. The side from Quigley Park were one of the Super League’s permanent fixtures for years, before they finally slipped out of the division a couple of years ago, but they regrouped last year and aided by a good winter in provincial competition where they won the Connacht Shield they kept their foot down and won the Premier A title by the narrowest of margins. On Sunday, Ballyheane will be hoping their experienced players like Peter Burke, John Kelly, Theron Coghill, David Sheridan, along with Terry and Chris Maughan will supply the solid foundation they are looking for to start the season well. As teams have found out at the bottom and the top of this eight team Super League in the past, you can be out of contention for either the title or safety before you are even up to full speed.

April showers and summer soccer have been familiar friends over the past two decades in Mayo since the Mayo League introduced summer soccer for the junior sides in the league. This weekend will see the 20th instalment of summer football kicking off across the now five divisions from Super League down to League Two. The top division features the names you would expect with Westport United once again leading the pack as defending champions, with Castlebar Celtic, Ballina Town, Iorras Aontaithe, Manulla, and Claremorris all chasing after them like last season. Making the step up from the Premier A from last year are champions Ballyheane and runners up Snugboro United. Both sides have had plenty of experience in the top division over recent years, but will be severely put to the pin of their collars this season to remain in the top division. But with two other sides in the division which can be considered local derbies, there are plenty of games where form can be put aside for a while.

League action kicks back into gear this weekend after a break for the cup last week across the Mayo leagues. Westport United sit 11 points clear at the top of the Super League at the moment and there looks to be no catching them over the final six games.

Much like last season, Claremorris have hit the ground running early in the Elverys Sports Super League. Maximum points from their opening brace of games, have the south Mayo side sitting on top of the league table, albeit ahead only ahead of Westport United on goal difference. On Sunday, Claremorris will have to make their first away trip of the season when they travel to the home of the champions Castlebar Celtic.

The Mayo League and clubs have been in the headlines of late over off the field issues, but on Sunday all eyes will be where they should on the park as the Mayo League kicks off for the 2012 season across five divisions. The Premier A and B along with division one and two will get proceedings underway on Saturday evening at 6pm, with the main attraction the Super League, kicking off on Sunday at noon with the meeting of Castlebar Celtic and Westport United in Celtic Park, with the action in the other games in the division getting underway at 2.30pm.

Castlebar Celtic has re-appointed Declan Kilkelly as manager of the club’s Super League side in a surprising turn of events over the past week. Kilkelly had been in charge of the side up to the end of last year’s Super League campaign when he led the hoops to a well deserved league title. Kilkelly had also been in charge of Celtic during their time in the League of Ireland A League and coached the youths’ side to a win in the FAI Youths Cup in 2007. Kilkelly still lined out for Celtic on a number of occasions in goal in recent years when injuries necessitated. He had recently also transferred his player registration to Achill Rovers where he was playing with the side in the masters league.

Castlebar Celtic claimed the Elverys Sports Super League title in style last Saturday evening with a 7-1 thrashing of Iorras Aontaithe in Celtic Park. It was really only a matter of time when Celtic clinched the title, but thanks to Westport United’s 2-1 win over then second placed Claremorris, Declan Kilkelly’s men were able to start their celebrations early with one round of games still left in the league. Westport’s win put them into second place in the table and two points clear of Ballina Town ahead of this week’s final round of games. The situation at the bottom of the table has been sorted out for a couple of weeks now with both Ballinrobe Town and Swinford making the drop back to the Premier A league next season.

With just two games to go in this year’s Elverys Super League, Castlebar Celtic will edge ever closer to regaining the title with a win over Iorras Aontaithe in Celtic Park on Saturday evening. Declan Kilkelly’s side are three points clear of nearest challengers Claremorris with only two rounds left in the competition. Celtic also have a far superior goal difference to their south Mayo rivals with +21 in the bank as opposed to +11 for Michael Hutton’s team.